VETERANS in Western Queensland including prominent RSL figures in Charleville and Cunnamulla have welcomed this week’s decision by the Albanese Government to axe controversial plans for a $5,000 cap on payments to ex-service personnel for allied health expenses.
After copping flak from non-Government MPs and Senators and veterans across the country such as former Charleville RSL Sub-Branch president George Donohue, Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh announced on Thursday (September 17) that the Government had backed down on the measure.
Mr Donohue, whose organisation raised the issue with Maranoa MP David Littleproud several weeks ago, said he was relieved with the outcome.
“We’re all happy now but it should have never happened,” said the 80-year-old Vietnam veteran who was ‘called up’ for National Service in 1966, spent Christmas in Vietnam the following year and after coming back to Charleville, served more than two decades as the local sub-branch president.
“The Government sent the boys to different conflicts and now they’re trying to save money. Who are they hitting? The blokes who fought for the country or served in the forces for Australia. Some of them are in wheelchairs and need allied health all the time.”
Bruce Allardice, president of the Cunnamulla Sub-Branch of the RSL, was just as relieved. “They’re should not be a limit on anything. They served their country. They go where they’re told,” he said, just days after attending an RSL meeting at Stanthorpe.
Canberra’s original plan, to help the Budget’s bottom line, was to bring in a $5,000 annual limit on allied health services for veterans.
It had been scheduled to come into effect from July next year before a tidal wave of criticism forced a change of heart.
PHOTO: Cunnamulla RSL Sub-Branch president Bruce Allardice….relieved with Canberra’s backflip on allied health expenses for veterans.
POSTED: Saturday, September 19, 2026